Pipe-annealing furnace



Sept. 1, 1925. 1,551,827

J. B. LADD PIPE ANNEALING FURNACE Filed Dec. 14, 1921 7 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOI? VM 5. k

ATTORNEY Sept. 1, 1925. 1,551,827

.1; B. LADD PIPE ANNEALING FURNACE Filed D90. 14, 1921 '7 Sheets-Sheet 3A TTORNE Y Sept. 1, 1925. 1,551,827

J. B. LADD PIPE ANNEALING FURNACE Filed Dec. 14, 1921 7 Sheets-Sheet 4ATTORNEY,

Sept. 1, 1925., 1,551,827

J. B. LADD PIPE ANNEALING, FURNACE Filed D66. 14, 1921 .7 Sheets-Sheet 5INVENTUR ID4- TM /3 4141 A TTOR/VEY Sept. 1, 1925. 1,551,827

' J. B. LADD PIPE ANNEALING FURNACE Filed D80. 14, 1921 7 Sheets-Sheet 6INVENTOR P M 5' L7;

' ATTORNEY Sept. 1, 1925.

J; B. LADD' PIPE ANNEALING FURNACE Filed Dec. 14, 1921 'r Sheets-Sheet 7INVENTOR Patented Sept. 1, 1925.

UNITED ST TES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES B. LADD, OF ABDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNO'B TO UNITED STATES CASTIRON PIPE AND FOUNDRY COMPANY, OF BURLINGTON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORA-TION OF NEW JERSEY.

' PIPE-HEALING runnacn. 7

Application med December 14, 1921. Serial x0. 522,248.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES B. Lam), a citiwhich the following is autrueand exact de-" scription, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which form' a part thereof.

My invention relates to annealing furnaces for pipes and is especiallyadapted for the treatment of centrifugal cast pipes in which metal hasbeen chilled duringthe casting operation. The pipes, during theannealing operation, are subjected to very high temperature and have atendency to softenand get out of shape and it is one of the ob ects ofmy invention to provide means for rotating the pipes While in theheating zone of the furnace at the highest temperature so as tocounteract their tendency to sag and becomedistorted. Another. object ofmy invention is to provide for the regulated feeding. of a series ofpipes through the annealing furnace so that a multiple number of pipeswill be transported at regulated speed through the front of the furnacewhere they the furnace in which last portion the pipzs are being raisedin temperature throughthe' hot zone and-through the rear-portion of areconsiderably lowered in temperature fore delivery from the furnace.

The nature of my improvements will be best understood as described inconnection line H of Fig. 13.

. Figure 3. is a cross sectional viewon' the line 3-3 of Fig.1.

Figure 4 is'a cross sectional view onthev line 4-4 of Fig. '1. a

Figure 5 an end view taken as from the line 5- -5 of Fig. 1.

Figure 6 is an end view taken the Figure 7, a cross sectional view onthe line 77 of Fig. 13.

Figures 8 to 12 areviews of the feed mechanism which regulates thedelivery of pipes from the furnace, the views bein taken in progressivepositions of the feeding device and showing this action on the pipes.

Figures 13 to 16 inclusive are a series of elevations showing themechanism for rotating pipes in the heating zone of the furnace and fortransporting the pipes pro ressively to the ri ht of successive sets 0r0- tating rollers, t e four views showing progressive positions of thetransporting mechanism and the manner in which it acts upon the pipes.

A indicates the main heating zone of the furnace; A the rear end -and Athe front end of the furnace. A is the front end opening of the furnaceand A the rear openingof the furnace. B is the inlet passage for gasesand B the outlet passage or stack.

1: is a gate for closing the entrance passage A and 0 a gate for closingthe exit opening, At. D indicates the bottom or floor of the furnace inwhich, as shown, are formed longitudinal openings such as are indicatedat 1 in Fig. 2. E, E, are tracks or run-ways for the pipes preferablymade of pipe so that water can be run through them to keep them 0001. Eindicates the front end of the pipe run-Way and E the rear end and theserun-ways are set on an incline so that the pipes will tend to roll fromthe front to the rear of the furnace. F indicates sup- Y portinginclined tracks at the front of the furnace on whlch the pipes aredelivered and from whlch they run on to the tracks or run-ways E. Findicates trackspreferably angular on which the pipes-run after leavingthe rear of the furnace. G, G, etc. are a series of friction rollssupported beneath the floor of the furnace and beneath the openings D inthefloor of the furnace and, as shown, the front roller G is attached toa shaft G which is rotated by a motor indicated at G. H, H, etc. are aseries of pipe supportingZrolls-resting on the rolls G and overlappingeach other as shown. These" rolls are ke t in alignment by beingattached to shafts 1 and arranged, as shown. They provide a series ofsubstantial supports for the pi es as iswell indicated in Figs. 13, 14,

, 15 an 16.: LI, are projections secured to the floor of the furnace inposition to form a buttress to engage the pi es as they approach theseries of rolls 1and holddtlhe pi es in position to be roper y enga e ytbs feeding device to e described. J, J, are feed bars the upper edgesof which extend through the openings D and are formed of a series ofupwardly projecting fingers or teeth as indicated at J, J and J. JflJ,

are lu s extending out from the sides of the bars J as best indicated inFig. 6. The feed bars J are secured together and in position by beinattached to a frame-work indicated at Ix, K the cross bar portion K ofthis frame being enlarged as indicated at K. L and L are rock shaftsprovided with projecting arms indicated at L the rock shaft L having anu wardly projecting arm L", and the rock s aft L having a downwardlyprojecting arm L as shown, see Fig. 1; the rock shaft L is also providedwith a lever arm L having atits end a counterweight indicated at L. M isa link connecting the lever arms L and L and M a link connecting thelever arm L to a crank arm -M on ashaft M which shaft is also providedwith a crank M and is actuated, as shown, by a motor indicated at M. Nis a link connecting the crank M with the pin (3* attached tothe'support C which is nearest the rear of the machine. C, C, aresupports for the feed bars J, the eneral conformation of which is bestshown in Fig. 6. At the bottom these support are notched as indicated atC so as to engage and rest u on the upwardly turned ends of the leverswhile the upper ends are provided with fingers indicated at C Fig. 6,for engaging the lugs J and with tapered ends indicated at O whichengage in the notches K of the cross bar K.

P is a shaft rotated by a motor indicated at P and to which are attachedthe pipe enga in 'v stops and feeding device indicated at These stopsare preferably given a form such as indicated, that is, with some whatrecessed front faces indicated-at P ending in projections P" while therear faces are curved, as indicated at P. R, R, etc. indicate the pi eshaving, as shown, bell ends R andw ich are preferably fed'to theannealing furnace with their bell ends in alternately oppositedirections so as to space the bodies of the pipesa art. In operation thepipes are if on receiving tracks F and rolled by gravit over theinclined runway E the pipes ina 78.1108, of the stops I being held'fromfurther move" ment through the furnace by these stops which, however,are not absolutely necessary. The rotation of the shaft M through itscrank arm M, the link M and the lever arm L rocks the shaft L while atthe same time the rocking motion is imparted to the shaft L through thelink M attached to its lever to at ures is the crank M attached to theshaft M wardmotion to the feed bars J. Theresult is best shown-inFigures 13 to 16. In Fig.

of these motions imparted to the feed bars 13, the feed bars are shownin the positions they occupy at the beginning of their cycle ofmovement. and it will'gbe observed that fingers J lie beneath andslightly in advanc of the pipes which are supported on the siops I. Thenext movement of the feed bars is an upward and rearward movement to theposition shown in Fig. 14 in which the fingers J have en aged the pipessupported on the rotating rollers, lifted them from the rollers andtransported them through half the distance of one successive set ofrollers. In Fig. 15, the feed bars, after moving rearwardly anddownwardly, de ojsiting the pipes again on the rollersin a vancedpositions and in Fig. 16 the feed bars have moved down and back to apoint intermediate their positions as shown in Figures 15 and 13.

It will be observed that in each cycle of movement of the feed bars onepipe is lifted from the front portion of inclined tracks E onto therotating rollers the pipes on the rotating rollers are shifted rearwardand the last pipe on the rollers is deposited upon the rear portion ofthe track E. On this rear portion of the track E the pipes roll bygravity through the rear of the furnace and out of its rear opening ontothe track F Here the pipes come successively into operative relationship.with the interperiod of time as is desirable. By'preference, this stopdevice is of the construction best shown in Figures 8 to 12 inclusiveand ,operates in the manner indicated .in these g res. Thus, it will beseen in Fig. 8 that the pipe R is arrested by contact with the curvedrear side P of one of the fing ers P and rests on the end of the trackimmediately above the-curved face 1P "or the other finger. Afurtherrotation of the fin ers thrusts the upwardly turned and P of erear finger P up against the next succeedin pipe, as shown in Fig. 9,while the face a of this fin er liftsthepipe immediately above it anmoves 'it'backward, as shown in Figures lO, 11- and 12, until "it isdeposited on the trackiFz The next succeeding pipe, as shown in theseries of fig-- ermitted to move lgradually down the tree F, asshowninigures 9 to 12,,

and the pipes on the tracks E'and F are thus permitted to move androtate gradually and practically continuously which is a matter of someimportance, particularly with regard to the pipes which are still at suc1 a high temperature that they may have a tendency to sag.

It will be observed that in my furnace, as illustrated, air to supportcombustion enters through the rear portion A of the furnace and onlymeets the gases entering the furnace near the heat zone A. Consequentlythe temperature of the pipes is being rapidly reduced in the rearportion of the furnace. In the central or hot zone A of the furnace thepipes are at their highest temperature and, therefore, it is here thatthey should be given a fairly rapid motion of rotation. In the frontportion or zone A of the furnace the pipes which enter the furnace coldare being heated up and in this portion of the furnace it is accordinglynot necessary that the comparatively rapid rotation which is desirablein the central .zone'of the furnace should be effected.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination with a' pipe annealing furnace having inclined pipesupporting means extending through the delivery end of the furnace andover which the pipes move by gravity through and out of the furnace, anintermittently acting stop mechanism consisting of two rotating fingeu'sacting successively'to engage the pipes as they come from the furnaceand to release them at definite time intervals, said fingers havingconvexly curved cam shaped backs so shaped as to permit of a slowforward movement of the pipeswhile engaged by the backs of the rotatingfingers.

2. In combination with a pipe annealing furnace having inclined pipesupporting furnace and over which the pipes move by gravity through andout of the furnace, an intermittently actingstop mechanism consistin oftwo rotating fingers having concave front faces and convex rear facesact ing successively to engage the pipes as they come from the furnaceand to release them at definite time intervals, said fingers being soshaped as to carry forward the pipes engaged by their concave frontfaces and to permit of a slow forward movement of the pipes engaged bytheir convex. rear faces.

3. pipe annealing furnace having in combination a series of pipesupporting and rotating rollers located in fixed position in the furnaceand intermittently acting means for transporting the pipes progressivelyalong said series of rollers.

4. A pipe annealing furnace having inclined means for supporting pipesat its front and rear ends, in combination with a series of 'pipe suporting and rotating rollers located in fixe position in the'heating zoneof the furnace and intermittently acting means for transporting pipesfrom the front incline to the rollers progressively along the rollersand from the rollers to the rear incline.

5. A pipe annealing furnace having inclined means for supporting pipesat its front and rear ends, in combination with a series of pipesupporting and rotat-nig rollers located in fixed position in theheating zone of the furnace, intermittently acting means for transportinpipes from the front incline to the ro lers, progressively along therollers, and from the rollers to the rear incline and intermittentlyacting stop mechanism located at the rear of the furnace and'operatingto successively engage and release the pipes on the rear incline andregulate their rate of movement throu h the rear of the furnace.

6. pipe annealing furnace having located in the furnace a series of pipesupportin and rotating rollers incombination with feed bars havingspacing fingers on their upper edges and means for actuating said feedbars as described and so that they are moved successively upward toengage extending through the delivery end of thethe pipes, rearward totransport the pipes along the series of rollers, downward to deposit thepipes on the rollers and forward to pipe engaging position.

JAMES B LADD.

